POTEAU – Battling for one of the top four spots in the post-season Region 2 Tournament, Northeastern A&M's Golden Norsemen make the three-hour trek to Carl Albert State College Monday for an 8 p.m. rematch with the Vikings in the Mickey Thompson Fitness Center.


Caught in a three-game tailspin, coach Dustin Grover's Golden Norsemen are one game out of fourth place in the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 7-7 record. After dropping a 67-59 decision to Murray State College last Monday in the NEO Fieldhouse, the Norsemen are 14-12 on the season.
Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa leads the OCAC with a 12-2 record and 23-3 overall followed by Murray at 10-3 and 14-9, Connors State 10-4 and 20-5 and NOC-Enid 8-6 and 18-8.
Three of the final four Golden Norse regular season games are on the road. The Norsemen conclude the home portion of the schedule Thursday with “Sophomore Night” at 8 p.m. against Redlands State College.
“With games at Poteau, (Eastern) Wilburton and Seminole, we have a real chance to finish in the top four teams,” Grover said. “But, we've got to follow the basic basketball principles of hitting free throws and rebounding to put us in a position to win. We haven't been doing those things on a consistent basis.”
Time is not an ally for the Golden Norse at this juncture of the season, but three of the four teams NEO faces have losing records. Only Eastern is 15-11 on the season.
'I don't think we're necessarily playing poorly, I just think we came up on the short end of the stick on a couple of road games while Tonkawa is winning all their road games,” Grover said. “The key factor is to play them one game at a time and win as many as possible to see where we wind up come March 1.
“It's all about seeding now because everyone qualifies for the tournament,” Grover said. “We want to be able to finish in the top four and be playing our best basketball at the end.”
Longtime head coach Mike St. John knows that his Vikings are in a “spoilers role”. The Vikings are 2-12 in the OCAC and 3-19 overall. The Vikings snapped a nine-game losing skid with a 61-59 victory over Redlands last Monday in El Reno.
“Their record doesn't mean a thing,” Grover said. “One of their three wins was a 72-70 victory in November at No. 2-ranked Coffeyville, Kan. That's the only loss (Jay) Herkelman's team has and it was on their home court.”
When the Golden Norsemen hosted the Vikings on Jan. 14, four players scored in double figures to lead NEO to an 82-64 rout in the NEO Fieldhouse.
Freshman power forward Frederico Santos contributed a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Golden Norse in both categories. Freshman guard Ja'mill Powell scored 19 points while freshman guard Luther Thomas added 14 and first-year post Nkosi Ali added 10 points.
Sophomore forward Jaymere Hadden tallied 29 points for the Vikings and Adrion Webber added 13.
“For us to be successful down there, we're going to have to hit the high percentage shots,” Grover said. “We did that when they came here, but we can't let them get in a scoring frenzy with Hadden and Webber.”
Freshmen Luther Thomas, Nkosi Ali and Jeff Newberry start at guards for the Golden Norsemen.
Thomas (6-5 from Fort Worth, Texas) has made 48 assists and 23 steals while averaging 7.6 points per game at point.
Ali (6-11 from Atlanta, Ga.) averages 10.4 points and 7.8 rebounds with 39 assists and 30 steals. He also has recorded 39 blocked shots.
Newberry (6-2 from Atlanta, Ga.) has a 14 point scoring average while posting 93 assists and 33 steals.
Santos and Powell start in the paint for the Golden Norsemen. 
Santos (6-5 from Rio de Janerio, Brazil) leads the Norse with a 11.5 rebounding average while scoring 14.1 points per game.
Powell (6-6 from Bridgeton, Conn.) averages 11.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Sophomores Hadden and Webber along with freshman Devin Coleman make up the back court for Carl Albert.
Hadden (6-4 from Millville, N.J.) averages 14.5 points with 3.8 rebounds while making 53 assists and 28 steals.
Webber (6-5 from Muskogee) leads the Vikings in scoring with a 15.1 mark while grabbing 4.9 rebounds with 16 assists and 12 steals.
Coleman (5-10 from Bridgeport, Conn.) leads Carl Albert with 39 assists and 31 steals while scoring 6.2 points per game at point-guard.
Veterans Josh Gracie and Lashawn Gallion start down low for the Vikings.
Gracie (6-5 from Fletcher, N.C.) averages 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in the post position for Carl Albert.
Gallion (6-6 from Jacksonville, Fla.) leads the Vikings with a 6-4 rebounding mark while averaging 7.4 points per game.